the characters were chosen to perfection and the only thing missing was the the technical support Handagama lacked being a srilankan movie maker. this was a very refreshing experience for me in srilankan cinematic history. first of all the the contents of the story, the controversial, taboos of conventional srilankan society is heavily exposed in this movie. the storyline was flawless in my opinion and the courage to create such cinematic piece in a country like Celinka amazed me and my brother who watched this movie together. The story,dialogs were typical of Asoka which are and full of life and reality. Out of 4 movies made by Asoka Handagama, this was the first one i had the opportunity to watch. I suspect that its value may only be appreciated 10-20 years down the road, when a threshold of distinct Asian filmmaking has been reached. This is a brilliant film, and has won an award at least one film festival (not surprisingly, at an Asian festival-the Bangkok International Film Festival), but it may be ahead of its time. There is also an interesting examination of the relationship between gender and ethnicity and a devastating critique of corruption in organized Buddhism. It is a highly effective exposition of the extent to which the war in Sri Lanka has degraded rural village life, to the point where every act and thought is circumscribed by the war.
Second, the film has a strong Asian character. It works well, but is bound to alienate viewers - particularly Westerners but also Asians - who cannot appreciate a film outside the parameters of Western filmmaking techniques. Apparently, the director tried to shoot this film in a style similar to the Buddhist murals that one sees in Sri Lanka and other countries in South and Southeast Asia. There is no tracking or fading in or out of scenes, simply cuts. It rejects, to a significant extent, traditional Western styles of filmmaking and tries to create a distinct "Asian" or "Sri Lankan" style.
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